Recent Chinese Cinematic Releases: Part Two

Last month I tipped you off to some Asian-produced films presented at the recent
Seattle International Film Festival.

Here are some more recent Chinese movies that you might like to keep an eye out for, descriptions and images again courtesy of The Seattle International Film Festival.

So Close (2002)
Hong Kong / 110 minutes

Sisters
Lynn and Sue were orphaned as teenagers when their parents
were murdered by greedy criminals who wanted to get their
hands on their father’s invention,
World Panorama, which allows the user to tap into any video
security system in the world. Armed with this device, the
girls have been able to carry out their jobs as assassins
with ease — until no-nonsense cop Kong Yat Hong arrives
on the scene.

Somewhere Over the Dreamland (2002)
Taiwan / 93 minutes

A
construction worker chances on a photo of a lost love, which
sets him off in search of her; a young man slaves in a restaurant
by day and leads a dissolute life by night, until a telephone
sex worker intrigues him with her story. Warm in tone with
a haunting score, the film is a deeply melancholic treat,
featuring members of the disappearing Taiwanese Atayal tribe.

Spring Subway (2002)
China / 93 minutes

This
offbeat urban romance set in modern-day Beijing involves a
young couple whose seven-year marriage is drifting apart as
the husband continues to dress
and take the subway each day, pretending to go to the job
he was laid off from three months previously. His daily subway
rides form the backdrop of the story, as he observes the budding
romantic endeavors of the various couples who share his underground
journeys through the heart of the city.

Springtime in a Small Town (2002)
China, Hong Kong, France / 112 minutes

Set
in a small southern Chinese town in 1946, this is the story
of what happens to a well-respected Chinese family when an
unexpected but not unknown visitor calls upon them, stirring
up feelings of lust and passion, threatening the seemingly
serene home of his hosts, and raising questions about the
meaning of friendship, honor and trust. Beautiful drama from
the director of “The Blue Kite” (SIFF 1993).

The Best of Times (2002)
Taiwan, Japan / 109 minutes

17-year
old Wei has a Bruce Lee obsession, a job as doorman at a hostess
bar and a sister dying of leukemia. His hothead friend, Jie,
keeps screwing things up, and the two find themselves becoming
embroiled in the fringes of the criminal world for which they
are ill-prepared. Lyrical in tone, the film swept the board
at this year’s Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. Awards:
Golden Horse Awards ‘02 (Best Picture, Best Taiwanese
Film of the Year).

The Eye (2002)
Thailand, Hong Kong / 100 minutes

Blind
since the age of two, Mun has her sight restored 18 years
later by a groundbreaking medical operation. As the bandages
are taken off, she’s able to see the world again. But
something’s not right. She doesn’t recognize her
face in the mirror and there’s a strange man dressed
in black hiding in the corners of her vision. Whose eyes are
these? Awards: Taiwan AA ‘02 (Best Actress: Angelica
Lee, Best Visual Effects), Hong Kong AA ‘02 (Best Actress:
Angelica Lee).

The Missing Gun (2002)
China / 90 minutes

This
wryly amusing tale set in contemporary China introduces us
to a small town policeman who awakes with a hangover one morning
to find that he has misplaced his gun–a weapon Chinese
citizens are forbidden to own–at a wedding party the
night before. Things take a more sinister turn when his first
love turns up dead, and the bullet that killed her was shot
from his gun.

Together (2002)
South Korea, China / 116 minutes

A
young violin prodigy and his father journey from the picturesque,
provincial city of Suzhou to the brassy bustle of Beijing
in hopes that the boy will be accepted into the state musical
academy in this strange and vibrant new setting. Young Xiaochun
learns much more about life than the violin master who takes
him under his wing could ever teach the boy in this exquisitely
moving story from the director of “Farewell My Concubine”
and “Yellow Earth.”

Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family (2002)
Hong Kong / 96 minutes

The
hugely popular Hong Kong action star, Jackie Chan, recently learned, as
his mother’s health failed, that his real name is Fang, he has siblings
he knew nothing about in Beijing, and that his seemingly humble parents
had a colorful past before they escaped the Chinese Civil War in the late
’40s. As the story unfolds, we learn more than just the tale of the
Chan dynasty: it is no less than the story of modern China.